DrumNet: an exchange for rural African entrepreneurs
On a cool day in Kirinyaga district, in the shadow of Mount Kenya, Zack Lenawamuro and Karimi Danson walk from their office to visit the passion fruit farmers of this rich agricultural region. At a small, one-acre farm, they greet a woman who has been growing passion fruit for only two seasons. They ask about her progress, offer some technical advice, talk about the financial aspects of the business and, most importantly, they let her know that there is a buyer waiting for her crop in Nairobi. Zack and Karimi are representatives of DrumNet, a project of Pride Africa that offers support services to smallholder farmers who too often operate their businesses without access to information, financial services or markets. Launched in 2002, the DrumNet project has been designed to bridge this gap using information technology, efficient business processes and economies of scale. The pilot phase is currently operating in Kirinyaga and Nairobi, but it is envisaged that DrumNet will grow to become a broad network of information access points for agricultural producers throughout East Africa. DrumNet provides (for a small fee) marketing and financial services for agricultural entrepreneurs. Although a number of initiatives to introduce microfinance services for this sector have emerged in the past decade, they have tended to neglect the important functions of information and market linkages. Often, even if credit is available, farmers are unable to take full advantage of it because they lack key information, such as on the most profitable crops to grow, or are unable to access the right market at the right time. These farmers are often forced into unprofitable transactions with local brokers and traders who take advantage of their lack of market information. The DrumNet participants will include individual farmers (primarily through their local cooperative societies), along with agricultural input suppliers, wholesale buyers, transporters and agricultural extension/training organizations. In linking these various network participants, DrumNet will not be directly involved in commodity transactions nor provide direct financial services. Rather, it will act as a broker, taking care of many interactions between the farmers and corporate buyers, and building trust and confidence between the parties. DrumNet´s information access points, or ´info-kiosks´ are simple, stand-alone facilities catering to clients who require financial, market and technical information in order to make more profitable transactions. Each info-kiosk is equipped with a computer with a dial-up connection to the Internet and a mobile phone (GSM) to link up with the central hub in Nairobi, which acts as the main server/database and provides an access centre for the storage and retrieval of information. Each kiosk is managed by an ´info-broker´, usually a member of the local community, who collects and disseminates information, assists in forming farmer groups, and arranges buy and sell deals. In the future, the DrumNet team envisages that its info-kiosks will be embedded into existing banks, savings and credit societies, and agricultural associations, and possibly even operated as independent franchises. The individual info-kiosks have been designed to keep start-up and operating costs low and allow the info-brokers to reach rural areas typically untouched by such services. As members interact with the network, DrumNet will also compile data related to the credit worthiness of individual clients - data that will be in great demand by financial institutions that have yet to tap into the market for microcredit and other financial products in this part of Africa. By combining sophisticated information technology with an on-the-ground presence in rural communities, DrumNet hopes to fill the current void in the provision of critical business information and financial services for small-scale agricultural producers in East Africa. mailto:vince@drumnet.org Vince Groh is DrumNet´s project manager. For further information, visit http://www.drumnet.org www.drumnet.org
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Magazine Article biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
2003
|
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/57627 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91640 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | On a cool day in Kirinyaga district, in the shadow of Mount Kenya, Zack Lenawamuro and Karimi Danson walk from their office to visit the passion fruit farmers of this rich agricultural region. At a small, one-acre farm, they greet a woman who has been growing passion fruit for only two seasons. They ask about her progress, offer some technical advice, talk about the financial aspects of the business and, most importantly, they let her know that there is a buyer waiting for her crop in Nairobi.
Zack and Karimi are representatives of DrumNet, a project of Pride Africa that offers support services to smallholder farmers who too often operate their businesses without access to information, financial services or markets. Launched in 2002, the DrumNet project has been designed to bridge this gap using information technology, efficient business processes and economies of scale. The pilot phase is currently operating in Kirinyaga and Nairobi, but it is envisaged that DrumNet will grow to become a broad network of information access points for agricultural producers throughout East Africa.
DrumNet provides (for a small fee) marketing and financial services for agricultural entrepreneurs. Although a number of initiatives to introduce microfinance services for this sector have emerged in the past decade, they have tended to neglect the important functions of information and market linkages. Often, even if credit is available, farmers are unable to take full advantage of it because they lack key information, such as on the most profitable crops to grow, or are unable to access the right market at the right time. These farmers are often forced into unprofitable transactions with local brokers and traders who take advantage of their lack of market information.
The DrumNet participants will include individual farmers (primarily through their local cooperative societies), along with agricultural input suppliers, wholesale buyers, transporters and agricultural extension/training organizations. In linking these various network participants, DrumNet will not be directly involved in commodity transactions nor provide direct financial services. Rather, it will act as a broker, taking care of many interactions between the farmers and corporate buyers, and building trust and confidence between the parties.
DrumNet´s information access points, or ´info-kiosks´ are simple, stand-alone facilities catering to clients who require financial, market and technical information in order to make more profitable transactions. Each info-kiosk is equipped with a computer with a dial-up connection to the Internet and a mobile phone (GSM) to link up with the central hub in Nairobi, which acts as the main server/database and provides an access centre for the storage and retrieval of information. Each kiosk is managed by an ´info-broker´, usually a member of the local community, who collects and disseminates information, assists in forming farmer groups, and arranges buy and sell deals.
In the future, the DrumNet team envisages that its info-kiosks will be embedded into existing banks, savings and credit societies, and agricultural associations, and possibly even operated as independent franchises. The individual info-kiosks have been designed to keep start-up and operating costs low and allow the info-brokers to reach rural areas typically untouched by such services.
As members interact with the network, DrumNet will also compile data related to the credit worthiness of individual clients - data that will be in great demand by financial institutions that have yet to tap into the market for microcredit and other financial products in this part of Africa.
By combining sophisticated information technology with an on-the-ground presence in rural communities, DrumNet hopes to fill the current void in the provision of critical business information and financial services for small-scale agricultural producers in East Africa.
mailto:vince@drumnet.org
Vince Groh is DrumNet´s project manager. For further information, visit
http://www.drumnet.org
www.drumnet.org |
|---|